[LongBeforeShort]

I used APO in the past, will use it again. Thank you for bringing to my attention peace GUI, that looks nice.

Any info on which program people use on Macs to EQ? My job assigned me a mac and lately I've been using Apple Music more as a result.

Soundsource, it's not for free. It uses the AunBandEQ from Apple Dev. It's P. EQ, the same as APO. I don't know, if there is a free version.

Hope that helped.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Soundsource, it's not for free. It uses the AunBandEQ from Apple Dev. It's P. EQ, the same as APO. I don't know, if there is a free version.

Hope that helped.

Good to know. Will this work in iPadOS? that's where it would be extremely useful for me.

 

[LongBeforeShort]

Sorry, i don't know about that, maybe its listed on their website somewhere? Just tried it out on macbook and it works flawlessly

 

[jincuteguy]

I would say so. I find people tend to exaggerate the narrowness of the Clear's soundstage. It's not stellar, by any means, but they sound open, outside your head, well separated, and nicely layered in their imaging. What they don't have is the uncanny sort of distance that the HD800 or HD800S (and perhaps only those headphones) can create in the soundstage. If you prioritize soundstage, the Arya is an excellent choice. It's very wide and well layered, but it doesn't produce might be considered artificially wide soundstage. Just excellent imaging and tremendous separation.

I also just realized there's another headphone out there, GoldPlanar GL850 and GL1200. Man there's so many headphones to choose from for the money

 

[jincuteguy]

I would say so. I find people tend to exaggerate the narrowness of the Clear's soundstage. It's not stellar, by any means, but they sound open, outside your head, well separated, and nicely layered in their imaging. What they don't have is the uncanny sort of distance that the HD800 or HD800S (and perhaps only those headphones) can create in the soundstage. If you prioritize soundstage, the Arya is an excellent choice. It's very wide and well layered, but it doesn't produce might be considered artificially wide soundstage. Just excellent imaging and tremendous separation.

So if you have money to just buy 1, which one would you get? Focal Clear? Arya? or LCD-XC

 

[janbe87]

So if you have money to just buy 1, which one would you get? Focal Clear? Arya? or LCD-XC

You really should try to listen to them yourself and see what you prefer. They are all good cans

Personally I prefer the wider soundstage and nuances of the Arya over the dynamic punch of the Clear. But that also depends on what music you hear.

I cannot comment on the Audeze

 

[phthora]

So if you have money to just buy 1, which one would you get? Focal Clear? Arya? or LCD-XC

If you have a capable amp and decent DAC, go with the Arya. If you don't, perhaps the Clear would be a better choice. Much easier to pair the Clear with an amp, and it's easier to drive. In just about every sound characteristic, except bass impact and vocals, I'd take the Arya. Again, if you want a closed back, the XC is the way to go and not simply because it's the only closed back here. Otherwise, it's a bit warmer than the Arya and has better resolution through the mids.

Another option is to consider instead the Elex, Ananda, or LCD-2 Closed and upgrade your DAC and amp. Each of those headphones is going to share a strong family resemblance to their older siblings anyway. I don't know how content you are with your current gear, but it's something to think about.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

So if you have money to just buy 1, which one would you get? Focal Clear? Arya? or LCD-XC

Easy choice for me. Clear and Arya are great complimentary headphones. Arya has resolution and soundstage. Clear has bass response with great punch and slam. Both have great tuning. I am not a fan of Audeze tuning and weight.

 

[tjdub]

So if you have money to just buy 1, which one would you get? Focal Clear? Arya? or LCD-XC

@phthora just gave you great advice, sort out your source first if not any high end headphone is just going to sound just ok.

 

[LongBeforeShort]

So if you have money to just buy 1, which one would you get? Focal Clear? Arya? or LCD-XC

I believe it would be a wiser choice to go to the dealer and try it for yourself first? Because fit and comfort is a big deciding factor in my opinion, even more than the sound itself, because if it doesn't fit, you won't wear them anyway. Then you could decide between what's left?

Personally, i don't know the XC, the Focal Clear could need some EQ for better bass and less aggressive mid area and the arya as well, because i found the treble too annoying compared to the 1000V2 and the heddphone sounds better to my ears compared to the 1000V2, but may need a bit of eq as well around bass and mid section.

Arya and 1000V2 don't slam or punch hard, the heddphone is better there and audeze in general seems to punch and slam harder and got less distortion as well. Focal Clear, as far as i know, is known for clipping problems, which means if you eq or listen very loud, you should buy your unit at the dealer's places and test it out first before purchase

 

[jincuteguy]

I believe it would be a wiser choice to go to the dealer and try it for yourself first? Because fit and comfort is a big deciding factor in my opinion, even more than the sound itself, because if it doesn't fit, you won't wear them anyway. Then you could decide between what's left?

Personally, i don't know the XC, the Focal Clear could need some EQ for better bass and less aggressive mid area and the arya as well, because i found the treble too annoying compared to the 1000V2 and the heddphone sounds better to my ears compared to the 1000V2, but may need a bit of eq as well around bass and mid section.

Arya and 1000V2 don't slam or punch hard, the heddphone is better there and audeze in general seems to punch and slam harder and got less distortion as well. Focal Clear, as far as i know, is known for clipping problems, which means if you eq or listen very loud, you should buy your unit at the dealer's places and test it out first before purchase

There's no dealers here in San Diego area that have these high end headphones to try out. I had the Arya last year, but returned it. So now I'm just wondering how's the Clear sound. People told me the Clear has narrow soundstage compare to the Arya, but how narrow? if it's not by much, i would prob just go with the Clear, but if it's a lot then I won't.

 

[PhazeCrive]

Why do people say the Arya has thin vocals and a plasticy timbre?

 

[Ripper2860]

I have no idea. Timbre is one of its strongest qualities, IMHO. An un-natural sound has never been emitted by my pair.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

There's no dealers here in San Diego area that have these high end headphones to try out. I had the Arya last year, but returned it. So now I'm just wondering how's the Clear sound. People told me the Clear has narrow soundstage compare to the Arya, but how narrow? if it's not by much, i would prob just go with the Clear, but if it's a lot then I won't.

They are both great. If I had to live with either one, I could do it. It really just depends on what is more important to you. Bass or treble. The Clear have much better bass response. Great punch and slam. They Arya have great treble, resolution and sound stage. No, the Clear sound stage is not super narrow, but it is noticeably narrower than the Arya. For me, I sold my clear because I didn't like its treble. I thought it wasn't resolving enough, so I upgrade to Utopia. If I had to pick one over the other, I would pick the clear because it has dynamic driver timbre which I prefer.

 

[sennfan83261]

There's no dealers here in San Diego area that have these high end headphones to try out. I had the Arya last year, but returned it. So now I'm just wondering how's the Clear sound. People told me the Clear has narrow soundstage compare to the Arya, but how narrow? if it's not by much, i would prob just go with the Clear, but if it's a lot then I won't.

The Clear Mg's is not totally inside one's head, but it isn't as expansive as the soundstage for Arya or the HD800S. Still, the Clear Mg's really good soundstage depth helps out. I compared the Arya v2 and the Clear Mg's briefly in my review of the Clear Mg: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-mg-loaner-program-ttvjaudio-com.956851/post-16344376

Granted, outside of the Clear Mg, I'm not a fan of Focal's timbre, which imo sounds more artificial than the HE-6's and Arya v2's timbre on my chain. The Focal cans that I've listened at depth are the Elex, Elegia, Radiance, and the Clear Mg. I listened to the Utopia for about 5 minutes at SourceAV up in Torrance, so I cannot really say much about it.